Islamic socialism

Islamic socialism is an Islamic spiritual form of socialism, originating with sahabi Abu Dhar al-Ghifari during the 7th century. al-Ghifari, the fourth person to convert to Islam, protested against the accumulation of wealth by the ruling class under Uthman's rule over the Rashidun Caliphate, and he argued for the equal redistribution of wealth. The Quran itself has many quotes that were used to justify socialism, including the "Family of Imran" surah quote, "Among the people of the scripture is he who, if entrusted with a great amount of wealth, will readily pay it back. And among them there is he who, if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless you constantly stand demanding, because they say 'there is no blame on us to betray and take the property of the illiterate Arabs', but they tell a lie against Allah while they know it." In addition, the concept of the zakat charity tax and Muhammad's establishment of a welfare state in Mecca are also used to justify the implementation of socialism in Islamic countries. Islamic socialists have since been divided between leftist socialists such as Siad Barre and Yasser Arafat and right-winger (borderline fascist) socialists such as Islamists Mohammed Iqbal and Agus Salim. Muammar Gaddafi created his own form of Arab socialism, combining leftism with Islamism and nationalism, but this ideology was overthrown during the 2011 Libyan Civil War.